


Sister Stars

by SennyriNamis23



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 13:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10164002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SennyriNamis23/pseuds/SennyriNamis23
Summary: A series of (mostly) short one-shots looking at the relationship between Vette and my Sith Warrior. They quickly become unlikely friends, and as their trust for each other grows, so does their closeness. Like the Twin Suns of Tatooine, they are sisters and they burn brighter together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Raelyn Politryk is my Sith Warrior. I mention Rimea a couple times - she's Raelyn's younger sister and also my Imperial Agent.

Everything hurt. Her arms, her legs, her head, her chest. It hurt to breathe, and it hurt to move. It hurt to think. She winced as she forced her eyes open, trying to draw strength from the pain but only managing to catch a glimpse of the bright artificial light before she groaned and shut them again. But even through the borderline blinding pain, she felt a presence beside her.

“Mea?” She murmured.

“Nope,” came the sing-song voice beside her, “I’m Vette. Your favorite ex-slave Twi’lek.”

Raelyn opened her eyes again, attempting to focus on the blue Twi’lek beside her.

“Of course, I'm sorry, Vette.”

She shrugged, “What for? You're the one who got electrocuted by some mysterious space-cult-wizard person. I just had to drag you back to camp. I'll take that trade any day.”

Vette was sitting right beside Raelyn’s cot on the ground, legs crossed and her hands stroking her lekku absentmindedly. She yawned and leaned back against the wall of the medical facility. Or what passed as a medical facility in this place. The Followers of Revan didn't exactly have the supplies for a full medbay.

Raelyn held out her hand to grasp Vette’s shoulder, “Thank you.”

“Don't mention it,” she replied with a smile, “I'd like to think you’d do the same for me some day. Besides, I kinda like running around with you.”

The Sith gave a shallow nod and slowly shuffled to a sitting position, “It’s nice to have company.”

“Ah, Initiate,” a voice called loudly from the doorway, “I see you've awoken and been reborn. How was your experience at the cave?”

“Oh, it was just delightful,” she remarked with a grimace as she shifted.

The Revanite - Raelyn couldn't remember which one he was - just laughed and threw her a medpac, “I hope it was enlightening, as well.”

“If you mean that literally, then, yeah, sure,” Vette cut in defensively, “There was plenty of lightning.”

She stood to her full height - which wasn't exactly considerable - and stared the man down hard, lekku twitching. Her normally bright clear eyes narrowed and clouded as she faced him. 

“Vette,” Raelyn said gently, pulling her attention away from the intruder, “he didn't mean that as an insult.”

“He sent you to die!” She argued, pointing at him almost violently.

“If I may interject,” he said cautiously, “I sent her to be reborn. There's a difference.”

Vette whipped her head back to him and spat with a venom, “You  _ shut up _ .”

“ _ Vette _ ,” the Sith called again with as much force as she could muster, “Let him go. I  _ didn't _ die, so all is forgiven.”

Finally, the Twi’lek reneged with a huff, backing up and sitting gracefully on the floor again. But the ends of her lekku still twitched in irritation. The Revanite wasted no time in leaving, however, turning quickly to return to his post in the camp.

Raelyn rolled up the sleeve of her shirt with a grimace and injected the medpac. “It's going to take a lot more than a little lightning to kill me,” she remarked, “I  _ am _ a Sith, after all.”

Vette sighed and looked off in the distance, “I know.”

“I appreciate your defense of me, though,” Raelyn noted, putting out her hand to Vette’s forearm.

She turned and smiled wearily, “No problem. Can’t have these idiots thinking I’ll just let them throw you to the cannocks.”

Raelyn laughed, ignoring the pain that seared through her chest as she did so, “They really are idiots, aren’t they?”

\---

“So who’s gonna tell him?”

Vette met Raelyn’s deep emerald eyes with her violet ones, a knowing and tired glance shared between them. They'd met Malavai Quinn only a few hours ago and he was already attempting to flirt - particularly poorly and awkwardly, if she was honest - with the Sith. It had taken all her patience to wait for him to finish laying out her mission before grabbing Vette and making a run for the cantina.

Raelyn shook her head and brought her hand to her face, “he’s perfectly lovely, and clearly very dedicated, it’s just-”

“You're incredibly gay.”

She laughed as she nursed the Corellian whiskey in front of her, “something like that.”

“Well, I'll tell him. He already doesn't like me.”

“How can you know that? He hasn't even said anything to you,” Raelyn commented, looking at the Twi’lek dubiously.

Vette nodded, taking a sip of her own drink, “Exactly. He hasn't even acknowledged that I'm there! It's like he thinks that if he doesn't engage me that I don't exist, and he doesn't have to think about a Twi’lek accompanying a Sith Lord.”

“Technically,” Raelyn corrected gently, “I'm just an apprentice.”

Vette shrugged, “Whatever. You're still too gay for him.”

\---

 

“Oh, you’ll fight us. Unfortunately for you, it’ll be alone,” Jedi Master Yonlach said calmly, though Raelyn could sense he was hiding a sneer.

Without warning, Vette crumpled beside her with a yelp.

“Vette!” Raelyn called instinctively, kneeling to touch her and make sure she was alright, but the Jedi before her kicked her backwards.

“You wouldn’t want her to get in the way, would you?” The younger Knight snarled with a little more passion than Raelyn anticipated.

She stood slowly and wiped her hands on her pants, igniting her golden lightsabers before her, “She’s twice the fighter you’ll ever be.”

Yonlach held out a hand in front of his apprentice, “Be mindful of your feelings, Yul-Li. This Sith will manipulate you into falling.”

“Oh, I can assure you, I’m not the manipulating kind,” Raelyn growled, “I’m a much bigger fan of brute strength.” 

In the time it took for them to unsheath their own blades, she hurled herself at them, landing her sabers on the younger Yul-Li, hoping to unbalance him. Yonlach didn’t engage her immediately, which was curious, but Raelyn didn’t have the time to play mind games with a Jedi at the moment. The Knight was on his heels fighting to stand, and with a swift kick to his chest, Raelyn sent him sprawling on the floor. Yonlach moved in and blocked the lethal blow with his own lightsaber, pushing Raelyn back a safe distance from his bodyguard. With a snarl on her lips, she regained her footing and sprinted to the Jedi Master, covering the distance in only a few steps, throwing her lightsabers at him as fast and hard as she could, knowing full well she wouldn’t reach his skin. He immediately went to a defensive position, preparing for the flurry of attacks which came from her. 

Vette let out a quiet groan from the other corner of the room, and Raelyn found the emotional push she needed. With every attack, she thought of the Twi’lek, drawing as much power as she could from her anger and her love. She hit the Master harder with every blow, pummeling him into a kneel. As she went for the final blow, however, Yul-Li came up beside her and kicked her hand, sending one of her lightsabers skittering across the floor behind her. Raelyn retaliated with a punch to the Knight’s face as he gloated his short-lived victory.

He fell with a thud, his hand pressed to his bleeding head.

Yonlach had recovered in the moments that had passed, and he faced her as she adjusted her grip on her remaining lightsaber.

“Your emotions blind you,” he reprimanded.

She didn’t even give him a response, immediately throwing her full energy into pushing him backwards into his desk. He hit it with a smack, and fell to one knee. Before he had time to stand again, she was in front of him, her lightsaber a hair’s breadth from his neck.

“Enough, I yield,” he submitted, hard breaths between each word, “But you’re sorely mistaken if you think I’ll give you anything.”

“No, Master Yonlach,” the young Knight groaned as he forced himself up to a knee. Raelyn willed her other lightsaber back in her right hand, pointing its blade in his direction in warning, though she said nothing.

The Master put his saber on the ground and held his hands in front of him, “Take my life,  _ Sith _ . You’ll gain nothing from it.”

“Master Yonlach, you are too important to sacrifice your life for Jaesa,” Yul-Li pleaded rather pitifully, turning his gaze from the Jedi to the Sith, “Yes, Sith, Nomen Karr’s padawan is Jaesa Willsaam.”

“Thank you,” Raelyn replied with a nod, “Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

With a swift move of the Master’s hand, Yul-Li dropped like a sack of tubers, “Sleep, Yul-Li. I am sorry, but Jaesa’s power is too important.” He stood and leaned against the desk as Raelyn withdrew her lightsabers and knocked them in her belt.

“So what now?” She asked.

“Jaesa and I have a telepathic connection from our time together here. If I die, she’ll feel it. But I am at peace now if you kill me, and you’ll not have the satisfaction of unhinging her.”

She blinked, unamused, “All I want to do is talk to her. I don’t want to kill either of you.”

Yonlach raised an eyebrow, “You just want to talk? Why do I find that hard to believe?”

“Maybe you should investigate your predisposed feelings towards Sith to answer that question,” she snarked.

“You might have a point,” he chuckled, “Whether you were being serious or not.”

She was getting impatient, “Look, can you just let Jaesa know I want to talk to her?”

Yonlach nodded slowly, “I can do that, I suppose. You did spare both me and Yul-Li when you could have ended our lives.”

“Good. Then we’re done here.”

He gave a small bow, “I cannot wish you well, Sith, but know that you have give me much to ponder.”

Raelyn nodded before turning abruptly and crossing the room to Vette, who managed to sit up, her head in her hand.

“You doing okay?” The Sith asked, brushing some sand from her head.

Vette nodded, “Yeah, I’m alright. Just a little temporary paralysis. Nothing I can’t shake off.”

Raelyn exhaled in relief, “I’m glad to hear it. So you had fun, then?”

“Ha! Not at all,” she laughed, “It was terrible not being able to wipe the sweat from my nose! But I saw that whole thing. Man, I knew you were strong, but that… that was  _ impressive _ . You took on two Jedi Knights all on your own! You were awesome!”

“Thank you,” the Sith replied with a smile, standing and offering the Twi’lek her hands to pull her up.

She bounced up and straightened her headpiece, grinning from ear to ear, “Sharack is going to be so surprised when we show back up at the hangar! I can’t  _ wait _ to see the look on her face!”

“Well, we shouldn’t keep her waiting,” Raelyn said with a grin as they left the small hut, not even looking back to the Jedi Master and his bodyguard.

\---

“Is it really so surprising that I like your company, Vette?” Raelyn asked, arching her eyebrow as she turned from her work on the engine.

“A little bit, actually,” Vette admitted, “Sith aren't exactly known for wanting to spend time with aliens.”

Raelyn stopped what she was doing and picked up her shirt from the floor, wiping the sweat and dirt from her brow and hands with it.

“If you hadn't noticed, I’m not exactly like other Sith. Especially in that regard.”

“Of course, but it's still taking some getting used to.”

Raelyn shook her head and smeared some grease on Vette’s forehead playfully, “I'm practically your sister now, aren't I? I'm  _ supposed  _ to spend time talking with you.”

Even while she was fumbling to wipe off the grease, Vette laughed, “You won't hear me complain about having a Sith for a sister. The kids won't beat me up at school, that's for sure.”

“Good,” Raelyn replied, “because I like having you around, even if Malavai whines that a Sith Lord shouldn't have to spend time in the engine room.”

“Ahem,” a voice called from the door, “My lord.”

“Speak and he shall appear,” Raelyn said to Vette with a wink before turning to Malavai, “What can I do for you, Captain?”

He stiffened, “My lord, Darth Baras is calling for you on the holoterminal.”

“Delightful,” Raelyn sighed, “Thank you, Malavai. I’ll be there shortly.”

With a bow, the Lieutenant turned and left the engine room.

“I really hate when he calls,” Raelyn remarked as she wiped her face again with her shirt, “It feels like he’s spying on me.”

Vette laughed, “He’s a paranoid old man,  _ of course _ he’s spying on you.”

The Sith shook her head, “I guess I should go play the good apprentice. Don’t want him thinking I’m planning a rebellion in the dark corners of my ship.”

“You’re going to talk to him with just an undershirt on?” Vette looked her up and down dubiously, pointing to her torso, which was only covered by a tight-fitting black tank.

“If he’s offended by it, he can go get a new apprentice,” Raelyn stated, pulling it down a little to cover her skin.

“Well, so long as I get to stay with you and your abs,” Vette remarked.

Raelyn looked at her in mock offense, “Of course you could stay. On that front, I think I can speak for both me and my abs.”

Vette was still laughing as Raelyn went to answer to holoterminal.

\---

Vette was nervous. The Star of Kala’uun was propped up between them, but Raelyn could see around it that she was bouncing her leg and wringing her hands. She was all but gnawing on the inside of her cheek.

The Sith leaned back, “You can relax, Vette. These are your friends. They’re not going to scold you for returning a Twi’lek artifact to them.”

She let out a sigh, “I just… I haven’t seen them in so long.”

“I know,” Raelyn said, “but that doesn’t mean they don’t love you still.”

Three Twi’leks rounded the corner into view, and Vette bounded out of her seat and into the chest of the red-skinned leader, yelling “Taunt!”

Taunt returned the hug and planted a kiss on Vette’s head between her lekku, “Hello, love. It’s so wonderful to see you again.”

Vette smiled so big, even from behind Raelyn could tell she was beaming.

“We did it! We got the Star and beat the shit out of that Cada Bliss. Oh! And how could I forget, this is Raelyn, the Sith I’ve been hanging with.”

Raelyn smiled gently and bowed to the three Twi’leks, “I’ve heard very much about you.”

“All good things, I hope?” The male on the left - Raelyn surmised he must have been Flash - teased.

“Of course, of course. Only the best.”

Taunt took Raelyn’s hand in hers, “I hope Vette isn’t taxing you.”

Raelyn laughed, “Oh, no. She’s like the little sister I never knew I needed. She’s a pleasure to have on board.”

In reply, Vette threw her arms around the Sith and squeezed.

Taunt smiled, “Thank you for returning this piece of Twi’lek history to us, Raelyn. It means more to us than anything. We can give you two a reward; the museum has already promised to give us an advance payment on it.”

“Nuh uh,” Vette replied, shaking her head, “I know you guys. You won’t even eat if you do that.”

Taunt looked over to Raelyn, who only shrugged.

“We’re - we’re not taking it, right, Raelyn?” Vette asked, suddenly nervous again.

“This was your heist, Vette,” the Sith replied, “You can decide what to do about the money.”

The smile leaped back on her face, “Then keep it, Taunt. Enjoy a big dinner on me!”

“You should at least join us,” Plasmajack suggested, “We can have a sending off party before you leave.”

Vette looked to Raelyn again, who grinned, “No one parties like a Sith.”

\---

Raelyn had felt her mood drop like an anchor, and when she crossed the hallway from her training room to the engine room where Vette spent her time, the Twi’lek was sitting with her head on her knees in one of the back corners.

“Vette? Is everything okay?”

She shrugged without looking up.

“Vette, what’s going on?” Raelyn repeated, wiping her brow with a cloth and crossing the room to her.

Again, she offered no verbal reply, letting her hands hang over her knees and her head fall on them.

“Alright,” the Sith said as she sat beside Vette, rubbing her back gently. The Twi’lek let out a sigh and a sniffle. Soon, she was shaking and crying outright. 

“Are your friends okay? Taunt and the gang?”

She nodded through the tears.

“Your family? Did you hear about them?”

She shook her head.

“Did Jaesa do something?”

She shook her head more emphatically.

Raelyn thought for a moment, running through the other conversations they’d shared recently for things that might have upset her. She couldn’t think of anything in particular.

“I don’t know what else to ask about, love,” she conceded quietly, “I’m going to need some help here.”

It took a moment, but Vette finally pulled herself together enough to look up at Raelyn with bloodshot eyes, her normally pristine makeup smudged from the tears.

“I miss them,” she whispered, “All of them. Risha, Taunt, the gang, my mom, my sister. Traveling with you is great, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like I’m letting them down by gallivanting across the galaxy.”

Raelyn cupped Vette’s cheek in her hand, wiping a tear away with her thumb, “I’m sure you do. You’ve been enslaved or on the run for most of your life, it must feel like you’ve cheated them to have gotten away from that.”

She nodded, “I don’t even know if they would  _ want _ this life.”

“It’s certainly not for everyone,” Raelyn replied, “but that doesn’t mean you don’t feel wrong for enjoying it.”

“Do you think they hate me for it?”

“I can guarantee you that they don’t,” she replied firmly, leaving no room for doubt in her tone.

Vette wrapped her arms around her, burying her face in Raelyn’s shoulder, “Thanks, sis. You’re the best.”

“I’ll try not to let it get to my head,” she teased.

\---

“Rae! She did it! Tivva found Mom!” Vette cried, racing through the Fury to Raelyn’s quarters, her boots clanging on the metal floor. When she got there, the Sith was meditating, sitting on the floor with her eyes closed and legs crossed. 

Raelyn opened one of her eyes and grinned, “Where are we headed?”

If it was possible, Vette’s smile grew even wider, “She’s on Tatooine! She works in one of the stores near the spaceport!”

“Then we shouldn’t keep her waiting.”

The Twi’lek threw her arms around the Sith, “You are  _ the best _ .”

Raelyn laughed, “I’ll have Quinn set the coordinates; why don’t you go tell Jaesa?”

Vette nodded, her violet eyes gleaming as she raced across the hall to her girlfriend. Raelyn could hear them laughing and whispering excitedly as she made her way to the bridge.

“Malavai,” she greeted, “we’re going to make a quick pitstop on Tatooine before we get that transponder code.”

Quinn visibly stiffened, “Are you sure, my lord? We don’t know how long that ship will be docked there.”

Raelyn shrugged, “There will be other ships if we can’t get to this one.”

He frowned but didn’t argue, “Very well. Plotting course for Tatooine.”

They could hear Vette bouncing around through the ship, letting out all her excitement and energy as she told Pierce and then Broonmark about the news. Eventually she made her way back to the cockpit, all smiles and glee rolling off her in waves. 

“You’re not going to ruin my moment by telling me to fasten my seatbelt, are you, Captain?” she teased, unable to sit still.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Malavai replied evenly, “the Fury isn’t even equipped with seat belts, and in any case, the jump to hyperspace is smooth enough-”

Raelyn nudged him gently, “It was a joke, Malavai, it’s alright.”

Vette succumbed to laughter again and ran out, probably to the medbay where Jaesa was.

Quinn blew out of his nose, “She is insufferable on her best days; I don’t know how we’ll last the whole trip to Tatooine if she continues like this.”

“I’ll tell her not to bother you,” Raelyn replied gently as she stood. 

When she poked her head into the medbay, Vette and Jaesa were sitting opposite each other on one of the beds, their hands intertwined, foreheads pressed together.

She could tell Vette later.

So she made her way to the small galley kitchen, expecting 2V to be there preparing something - he always seemed to be preparing  _ something _ \- but was surprised to find Pierce sitting at the table, a steaming mug of something in his hand.

“I didn’t take you for a tea drinker, Pierce” Raelyn remarked, pouring herself a mug of hot water and finding the right herbal combination to put in it.

He chuckled, “Doubt it’s the kind of tea you’d like, m’lord.”

Raelyn could probably guess what was in the mug, and while she didn’t usually miss an opportunity to tease the Lieutenant, decided to leave him to it, taking her mug back to her own quarters. Tatooine was a few days’ journey from Voss, and she wasn’t sure what she would do in the meantime, but decided a novel wouldn’t be a bad idea. She’d been running ragged the last few months, constantly moving from one crisis to another, trying desperately to stay ahead of Baras.  _ The bastard _ . She couldn’t even think of his name without feeling the anger in her gut start to boil. 

She needed a break from running and a break from training, as therapeutic as it was.

The days passed relatively slowly, and eventually even Vette settled back into her routine, albeit a little more fidgety and giggly than normal. The Fury was quiet again, which seemed to placate Quinn. Pierce was putting together details on his assault of the Bastion, Jaesa was quietly researching light-sided Sith across the galaxy, and Broonmark was pacing and grumbling in the back of the cargo bay near his collection of shiny coins and bones. 

When Raelyn went up to the cockpit to check on Quinn, he looked even more stressed than normal, though he tried to hide it.

“We’re set to land within the hour, my lord,” he commented blandly when he turned to see her, though his knuckles were whiter than normal.

“That’s good,” she said, sitting in the chair opposite the console. Malavai had told her on multiple occasions that the captain’s seat was meant for her and she could use it, but she just couldn’t bring herself to sit there. Quinn was the master up here, she didn’t have much of a right to take the seat of honor. So, it sat unoccupied, Malavai and Raelyn taking opposite sides of the central control panel.

The moment they exited hyperspace, Vette was up in the cockpit again, pacing and biting her nails. It didn’t take much of a Force nudge from Raelyn to get Jaesa to come get her.

“Everything okay, Malavai?” she asked as he unlocked the door to the ramp, and she stood.

He nodded, “Of course, my lord. I’ll keep the ship ready for your return.”

She leaned over and rustled his hair gently, “If you say so. We shouldn’t be gone too long, but I’ll let you know when we’re on our way back.”

He frowned and immediately went to fixing his hair, “I’ll see you soon, my lord.”

Raelyn smiled and crossed the ship to her quarters where her armor was laid out neatly on the bed. She put it on quickly with the skilled hands of a practised warrior and looked out to the hall, finding a certain blue Twi’lek wringing her hands again.

“You ready, Vette?” she called.

She nearly fell over, “Oh, yeah yeah! Just waiting on you!”

“Well, I’m ready, so let’s go,” the Sith replied.

Vette nearly ran through the spaceport, barely waiting for Raelyn to catch up before she exited, heading in the direction of the store her sister had directed her to. Raelyn felt something unsettled in her stomach, but couldn’t pinpoint the sensation.

No amount of warning could have prepared Raelyn or Vette for the sight they encountered when they entered the shop. A muscled red male Twi’lek stood at a table, hanging his head, tears dropping beside the body of an elderly but beautiful blue female Twi’lek. Tivva was there, pacing angrily. Both Twi’leks looked over when Vette and Raelyn entered, and both women knew what was going on. Vette instinctively reached for Raelyn’s hand.

“She’s-?” Vette began, trailing off immediately as if her voice had been snatched from her.

Tivva, by contrast, twitched as she paced and demanded, “What happened?”

The male Twi’lek, Feb’Noota, spoke, although not in Basic, and Raelyn had a hard time keeping up with his exact words. She got the jist of it, though. Vette’s mother, Diida, died of overexertion, toiling for twenty hours a day every day for the last twenty years so the shop would have enough profits to satisfy a certain Hutt. Woodle? Whuddle? Raelyn wasn’t sure which one, but it didn’t matter much. It still remained that Vette’s mother had died a mere moments before they arrived, and all the excitement had bled out of Vette nearly instantly.

She still held onto Raelyn’s hand, squeezing hard.

“Do you think we could have a service or something for her?” Vette suggested quietly.

Feb’Noota shrugged and said something about not having much money for it.

“I can pay for it,” Tivva offered, throwing her hands in her pockets, searching for credits.

Raelyn stepped in, “No, Tivva. Let me. You two have lost enough today. The least I can do is pay for a proper burial.”

Tivva nodded, “That’s very generous of you.”

So Vette and Tivva left with handfuls of credits to find the proper wrappings and a nice plot of desert for their mother while Feb’Noota and Raelyn cleaned up the body and straightened her clothing - it wasn’t like she had other outfits she could have worn. They worked silently, the grief nearly palpable in the room even without Vette and Tivva. When the sisters returned, they brought vivid cloth and four shovels, and just as silently as earlier, they wrapped Diida in the cloth and carried her just out of the city to a little marked plot. As they dug in the Tatooine sand, the three Twi’leks went around telling stories about her, things the girls remembered from their youth, Feb’Noota about their time together at the shop. By the end, Raelyn thought she knew Diida as well as she knew her own mother. She’d remained quiet while the Twi’leks talked, sometimes in Basic, sometimes in Huttese, feeling a bit like she was intruding on a sacred rite. But they headed back to the shop and Vette rested her head on her shoulder, and she knew she needed to be there.

For awhile, they were quiet in the shop, saying a few things about their service and how nice it was even if they couldn’t have a proper Twi’lek funeral. But pretty soon, Tivva was pacing again and the anger was building in her. She started asking Feb’Noota about Whuddle and the other Hutts, clearly formulating some plan. Finally, she turned to her sister.

“We  _ have _ to avenge our mother, Ce’na,” Tivva pleaded, gesticulating wildly, “We have to kill Whuddle, prove to the Hutts that we aren’t just slaves!”

Vette hesitated, fear and confusion written all over her, “Tivva…”

The older sister turned to Raelyn, “You agree with me, don’t you? It’s the right thing to do! We deserve,  _ we need _ , revenge!”

Emotions were so high in the room, Raelyn had to stop herself from drinking it in. Vette looked up at her with a plea in her eyes.

Raelyn breathed deeply and shook her head, “This isn’t you, Vette. If you kill this Hutt, there’s going to be a part of you that dies inside. You’ve never been the girl to take revenge like this, even with Cada Bliss or Three-Eyes. I know this hurts more than anything, but it’ll only hurt more if you have to answer for another death.”

Clearly that was not the answer Tivva was looking for.

“So you’re going to do nothing about this?” she made a noise in disgust, “I cannot believe you. You’re  _ not _ my sister.”

The older Twi’lek stormed out of the shop. 

Vette sighed and looked at the floor, “Well, there’s nothing else here for us. Let’s go.”

Raelyn handed Feb’Noota a wad of credits on their way out, nodding but not saying anything.

Sith and Twi’lek walked in silence back to the ship, and when they climbed the walkway inside, Vette made a beeline for the engine room, locking the door behind her. Jaesa sat on the couches and looked at Raelyn in confusion.

“Is everything okay, Master?” she asked.

Raelyn sighed, “She died right before we got there.”

Jaesa nodded slowly in understanding, “She needs some time to process that.”

“I would imagine. I’ll check in on her later and let you know.”

“My lord,” Malavai said, appearing from the cockpit, “shall I plot a course to the ship near Corellia? I’ve monitored its position, and its location has not changed.”

Raelyn nodded, “That sounds good, Malavai. Thank you.”

He dashed back off to the cockpit.

Jaesa watched him go and turned back to Raelyn, “He’s been acting odd since you left; he’s barely left the cockpit as if that’s the only place in the whole ship he feels safe, and when he does, he sneaks around like he’s going to be reprimanded if he’s seen elsewhere. When I tried asking him about it, he denied anything was wrong, but I don’t believe that.”

“He frequently lingers in the cockpit,” Raelyn replied, not having the energy to deal with two emotionally compromised shipmates, “I’m sure he’s just stressed. But thank you, Jaesa. I’ll check in on Malavai, too.”

Pierce was in the crew quarters, talking to someone on his holocommunicator, getting more and more heated. Raelyn didn’t even want to deal with it, but as she passed him on her way to the kitchen, he called her.

“M’lord!”

“Pierce,” she replied shortly, stopping but not entering the room.

“M’lord, this is the last member of the crew, Arlos.”

She swallowed her impatience and entered, looking at the blue-ish image of a young man; he couldn’t have been much more than a teenager.

“You’re the computer genius?” Raelyn said as a way of greeting.

Pierce crossed his arms over his chest, “That’s the thought. Rotten kid’s ain’t got us nothin’ though.”

“That’s not true! I’ve got the schematics for the lower level!” Arlos pleaded, furiously typing on some unseen console.

“How many levels are there?” Raelyn asked skeptically.

“That depends on how you define ‘level’,” Arlos replied quickly, nearly fumbling over every word he was going so fast.

Pierce was clearly unamused, “The whole op is ridin’ on you, kid, you gotta do better than the lower level.”

“I’m working on it, I’m working on it!”

Raelyn faced Pierce, “Maybe you should give him a break,” she said quietly so only the Lieutenant would hear.

“He can do better,” was his only steely reply, although his body language softened a bit.

Arlos continued typing, “Hang on, I think I’ve got another way in. It’s risky though.”

“I won’t keep you, m’lord,” Pierce said, “we could be here awhile.”

Raelyn nodded, grateful for the reprieve. And the chance to get something to eat.

The kitchen was pretty well stocked despite its size, and she rummaged through cabinets as well as the freezer for anything that might be appetizing. She settled on a frozen chocolate concoction, turning to take it back with her to her quarters, but then changed her mind, grabbing a second and making her way to the engine room.

The door was open again, which was a good sign. Vette stood at the computer, flipping through images on the screen lazily.

“Hey,” Raelyn said gently from the doorway, “Is it okay if I come in?”

Vette turned to her, spotting the chocolate, answering, “Only if one of those is for me.”

Raelyn smiled and threw one to her as she entered.

“Are you going to be upset if I ask you how you’re doing?” she asked.

Vette shrugged, “Not a lot has changed since we got back. Well, wait, that’s not true. Tivva called. She’s not mad at me anymore. Once she cooled off she realized how stupid it would have been to go after that Hutt.”

“That’s good,” Raelyn replied.

“I figured she would calm down eventually,” Vette said, mouthful of chocolate.

“Are you going to tell Jaesa what happened?”

She shrugged again, “Probably eventually. I’m not sure I could get it all out to her now. Did you tell her?”

“Just enough to satisfy her curiosity.”

Vette nodded and reached out for Raelyn’s forearm, “Thanks. And thanks for coming with me. I don’t think I said that earlier.”

The Sith smiled gently, “It’s my pleasure, Vette. As always.”

Raelyn could feel Vette’s emotions in turmoil, shifting constantly between grief, anger, frustration, guilt, and relief. They radiated off her strongly, more strongly than Raelyn remembered feeling anything from her. Neither of them spoke for a long time as they finished their treats, eating quietly in each other’s company. 

Eventually, Vette’s emotions got the better of her and tears welled up in her eyes.

“I was  _ so _ close, Rae,” she whispered, “So close to seeing her again. To laughing with her, to telling her about everything, to feeling like a daughter again.”

There’s not a good response to that, so Raelyn pulled Vette in close and hugged her, pressing her forehead gently between the Twi’lek’s lekku. 

“I’m so sorry, Vette,” she whispered.

Vette didn’t reply, but she wrapped her arms around Raelyn as she cried. They stood there for a long time, Vette grieving and Raelyn soothing her. And for a few long moments it didn’t seem like they were Lord and crew, but sisters. Sisters who had seen each other through everything, who had been dragged through hell and back, who had come out of it all stronger and closer than ever. Sisters not through blood like Vette and Tivva or Raelyn and Rimea, but sisters more or less by choice. Vette may have begun as a Twi’lek slave gifted to a talented Sith apprentice, but it didn’t take long for them to become friends and confidantes. They trusted each other more than anyone, and loved each other the same. In that moment, standing in the engine room as Vette sobbed into her shoulder, Raelyn’s heart broke for Vette’s pain as if it had been her own mother who died. The fact that she could feel her emotional roller coaster was no help, either. 

It was late by the time they separated, and Vette’s eyes were bloodshot and tired. Jaesa had been lingering in the hallway, not wanting to interrupt, but clearly concerned about her partner.

“Why don’t you get some rest?” Raelyn suggested gently, “It’s been a long day.”

Vette sniffled and nodded, “That sounds good. And maybe a shower. I’ve still got sand on me.”

The corner of Raelyn’s mouth quirked up in a smile, “I’ll bet a certain apprentice of mine would be more than happy to help with either of those things.”

Raelyn could feel Jaesa’s embarrassment from the hall, but Vette only laughed, “I’ll bet she would.”

She let Vette lead the way out of the engine room, but passed by her and Jaesa as they embraced.

“Goodnight, girls,” she called.

“Goodnight!” came the unison reply.

She checked in the cockpit on her way back to her quarters, but it seemed even Malavai had turned in for the night, the autopilot beeping softly in the dimmed lights. Secretly relieved and about ready to pass out, Raelyn turned back and headed to her quarters, where she promptly fell into bed.

**Author's Note:**

> This leads right into that other fic I wrote about Raelyn - the Weight of Friendship - that details the Quinncident. So, there's that.


End file.
